It is alleged female students were pushed into taking part in explicit sex scenes "that went far beyond" the industry standards.

Hollywood star James Franco is being sued by two of his former acting students who have accused him of sexual misconduct.

The Golden Globe-winning actor allegedly abused his position to engage in “sexually charged behaviour towards female students” by “dangling the opportunity for roles” in his films, according to a lawsuit.

Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal say Franco tried to “create a pipeline of young women who were subjected to his personal and professional sexual exploitation in the name of education”.